Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond sees off critics at AGM

Sir John Bond, Vodafone chairman, and John Buchanan, his deputy, comfortably survived calls for their departure at the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday.

By Louisa PeacockPublished: 5:45AM BST 28 Jul 2010

Vodafone Group

Some 93.5pc and 94.1pc of shareholders respectively voted to re-elect Sir John and Mr Buchanan, despite opposition from an investor group which last week demanded a major boardroom shake-up.

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTTP), which owns a 0.42pc stake in the mobile phone giant, had called on shareholders to oust both men after attacking Vodafone's "strategic weakness" and "disastrous" acquisition record.

On Tuesday, Sir John was forced to defend his position at the company when a shareholder confronted him over the revolt, which carried a "great deal of damage". Sir John said: "I am standing for re-election at this meeting. Therefore you should deduce that I do not plan to stand down."

The OTTP, which voted against directors' pay in 2007, targeted Vodafone's acquisitions after the company wrote down the value of its Indian business by £2.3bn in May, just three years after gaining control of the country's second-largest mobile operator by revenue. The investor had, however, backed the re-election of Vittorio Colao, chief executive.

Sir John admitted the board was "acutely disappointed" about the situation in India, but said it was "virtually impossible" to predict.

Vodafone also faced calls from shareholders to investigate the possibility of realising the value of its minority assets. The group owns a 45pc stake in US mobile operator Verizon Wireless, a 3.2pc stake in China Mobile, and 44pc in French mobile group SFR.

One shareholder said: "There has been talk in the press that Vittorio [Colao] will look to dispose of [Verizon], so perhaps you can enlighten us?" Another asked: "Verizon is a concern to everybody in the room, if you were to sell it what would it do to the share price?"

Sir John said Verizon was a "hugely important issue" which the board regularly monitored. "The 45pc stake we hold … has been rising in value over the years so the decision not to sell out has been the right decision hitherto." He warned there was "only one" potential buyer for Vodafone's stake in the business. "If they see any weakness, I can guarantee you will get a very cheap offer."

Mr Colao added: "Verizon is actually doing well, which is why we are very mindful over what we do with this stake."

Vodafone also faced pressure over what some described as "excessive" pensions and pay for executives. Sir John said: "Compensation generally is very high in senior positions but it is not going to serve the long-term interests of Vodafone if we half everything and lose our senior management team."